Base for top-down storage vessel

ABSTRACT

Top-down storage vessels can be stably supported on a base portion opposite a top portion defining an opening. Top-down storage vessels can be stably supported on a closure coupled with the top portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a top-down storage vessel, which can beused for the storage, distribution, and dispensing of a product. Moreparticularly, the invention is a top-down storage vessel that can bestably supported on a base portion opposite a top portion defining anopening.

2. Description of the Related Art

A traditional container has a bottom region on which the container canstably rest on a surface; this bottom region is opposite of a top regionof the container that defines an opening. The traditional container isfilled through the opening with a substance, for example, a food, withthe bottom region in contact with a surface, e.g., the surface of aconveyor. The opening of the traditional container is then sealed, forexample, with a cap, and the container with the substance can be furthertreated, placed into long-term storage, transported, or stored for readydispensing of the substance from the interior of the container.Throughout such treatment, long-term storage, transport, and storage forready dispensing, the traditional container is supported on the baseportion of the container.

However, the traditional container suffers from several limitations whenused for the dispensing, marketing, and advertising of certainsubstances, for example, viscous fluids. A substance in a traditionalcontainer stored with the bottom region supporting the container on asurface will settle near the base region, away from the top portion andthe opening. A user desiring to remove a viscous fluid substance, forexample, ketchup, from a traditional container often cannot immediatelydo so simply by tilting the container so that the opening is at thelowest point or by squeezing the container. Instead, the user must ofteninvert the container, attempt to balance the container on a cap sealingthe container, the cap being ill-suited to support the container, andwait for an extended period of time for the viscous fluid to flowtowards the cap. Alternatively, the user must often violently agitatethe container, risking uncontrolled expulsion of the viscous fluid fromthe container and resultant damage to clothing, furniture, or otherproperty.

When a traditional container is placed, for example, on the shelf of asupermarket or other retail store, the bottom region of the container isin contact with the shelf; the top region of the container is oppositeof the bottom region; and a cap sealing the opening is at the highestpoint. Thus the top region of the container and the cap of the containercan be the most visible regions of the container. Packaging of a productis understood to be an important factor in determining whether aconsumer will make a first time purchase of a product, and whether aconsumer will remain loyal to a product, rather than being diverted bythe more interesting packaging of a competitor's product. For example, apurchaser searching for a type of food substance may purchase one brandof food substance over another brand not as a result of a study of thenutritional advantages or lower price of the one brand relative to theother brand, but rather because of an impulsive decision based on themore appealing packaging of the one brand. Such an impulsive decisionmay, for example, lead to the selection of a brand of a “fun” food,e.g., condiments such as ketchup or mustard associated with picnics andother casual, festive occasions, especially among young consumers.Therefore, it can be desirable to provide the most visible regions of acontainer with a creative appearance or a resemblance to the whole or apart of someone or something with which a consumer makes a positivemental association. However, the freedom to provide the very visible topregion and cap of a traditional container with, for example, a threedimensional design resembling the whole or a part of a person, ananimal, a fictional character, or a thing, is constrained by the needthat the cap and the top region of the container serve the functions ofallowing the traditional container to be filled and sealed and ofcontrolling the dispensing of the contents of the container.

Some of the limitations of a traditional container have been addressedthrough the manufacture and use of conventional top-down tubes. In aconventional top-down tube, a closure capable of sealing an opening in atop portion of the tube can stably support the top-down tube on asurface. As a result, a substance, such as a viscous fluid, in thecontainer will settle near the top portion and the opening when the tubeis stored with the closure stably supporting the tube on a surface. Auser can then squeeze or agitate the tube gently for the viscous fluidto flow from the tube in a controlled manner. However, the bottom regionof the tube, which is opposite of the top portion, cannot stably supportthe top-down tube on a surface. A filling operation can be conducted byfilling a substance into the top-down tube through the opening beforethe closure is used to seal the opening. However, because the bottomregion cannot stably support the conventional top-down tube on asurface, the tube cannot be stably transported on a conveyor of afilling line used for traditional containers with the top portion of thetube elevated. The tube cannot be stably supported on a conveyor usedfor traditional containers with the top portion of the tube elevated fora substance to be filled by a filling station through the opening.Instead a new, special filling line for conventional top-down tubes mustbe constructed, or an existing filling line for traditional containersmust be retrofitted to provide sufficient support for the transport andfilling of the conventional top-down tubes. Thus, switching from storinga substance in a traditional container to storing the substance in aconventional top-down tube can require expensive construction or anexpensive retrofit of existing equipment.

One solution to this problem has been the use of blow-molded containershaving conventional base designs. Such containers can be stable on atypical filling line. However, a top-down container with a conventionalbase does not fill the need for packaging that is aesthetically pleasingand provides marketing and product recognition that is important topackagers and consumers.

There thus remains a need for a top-down storage vessel that can besupported on a surface by a closure, can be supported on a surface by abase portion opposite of the closure during filling operations, andallows for varied three dimensional design of the base portion demandedfor marketing and advertising purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide top-downstorage vessels that can be supported on a surface by a closure, can besupported on a surface by a base portion opposite of the closure duringfilling operations, and allows for varied three dimensional design ofthe base portion demanded for marketing and advertising purposes.

An embodiment of a top-down storage vessel of the present inventionincludes a blow molded container. The blow molded container can includea top portion defining an opening, a body portion adjacent the topportion and defined by a tubular sidewall, and a base portion adjacentthe body portion. The top portion, the body portion, and the baseportion can be adapted for hot fill applications. The base portion caninclude corrugation comprising a plurality of raised ribs and at leastone parallel trough extending substantially across the base portion. Thecorrugation can support the container upright on a surface.

The body portion of the blow molded container can have an oval crosssection. The body portion can have an oval cross section at a firstpoint, a second point, and a third point. The second point can bebetween the first and third points. The area of the oval cross sectionat the second point can be smaller than the area of the oval crosssection at the first point and can be smaller than the area of the ovalcross section at the third point. The oval cross section has a majoraxis and a minor axis. The plurality of raised ribs and the at least onetrough can be parallel to the minor axis.

The raised parallel ribs can be concave; the at least one paralleltrough can be concave; and the corrugation can be concave. The twooutermost raised ribs can form standing points for the container.

The corrugation can include five raised ribs and four troughs. The fiveraised ribs can include a first outer rib, a first inner rib adjacent tothe first outer rib, a central rib adjacent to the first inner rib, asecond inner rib adjacent to the central rib, and a second outer ribadjacent to the second inner rib. The first and the second inner ribscan be taller than the first and second outer ribs. The first and thesecond inner ribs can have a concave shape, and can form four standingpoints for the container.

The blow molded container can include a polyolefin, and can be formed byan extrusion blow molding process.

A container system can include a blow molded container having a topportion defining an opening, a body portion adjacent to the top portion,and a base portion adjacent to the body portion, and can include aclosure. The body portion can be defined by a tubular sidewall, the baseportion can have corrugation, and the closure can be adapted to becoupled with the top portion. The closure can be adapted to support thecontainer in an upright position on a surface. The base portion can beadapted to support the container in an upright position on a fillingline.

A base for a container can include a base portion. A plurality of raisedribs and at least one parallel trough can extend substantially acrossthe base portion. The raised parallel ribs can support the containerupright on a surface; the two outermost raised ribs can form standingpoints for the container.

A method includes blow molding a container that has a top portiondefining an opening, a body portion adjacent to the top portion, and abase portion adjacent to the body portion. The body portion can bedefined by a tubular sidewall, and the base portion can havecorrugation. The corrugation can include a plurality of raised ribs andat least one parallel trough extending substantially across the baseportion. The raised ribs can be concave and the container can stand onthe farthest portions of at least two of the raised ribs. The blowmolding can include extrusion blow molding. The method can includefilling the container with the container standing in an upright positionon the corrugation. The method can include sealing the container with aclosure; the container can stand in an upright position on either thecorrugation or the closure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a top-down storage vessel according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a top-down storage vessel according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a top-down storage vesselaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of a top-down storage vessel accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a left side elevational view of a top-down storage vesselaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a top-down storage vessel according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of a top-down storage vessel according toan embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below. Indescribing embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sake ofclarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific terminology so selected. A person skilled in the relevant artwill recognize that other equivalent components can be employed andother methods developed without parting from the spirit and scope of theinvention. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference asif each had been individually incorporated.

A top-down storage vessel of the present invention can include ablow-molded container 102, shown in FIG. 1. An exploded view of anembodiment of a top-down storage vessel including a blow moldedcontainer 102 is shown in FIG. 2. The blow-molded container 102 includesa top portion 104 defining an opening (the opening is not shown), a bodyportion 106 adjacent to the top portion 104 and defined by a tubularside wall, and a base adjacent to the body portion 106. The baseincludes a base portion 108; the base portion 108 includes corrugation110. The corrugation 110 includes a plurality of raised parallel ribsand at least one parallel trough; the raised parallel ribs and theparallel trough or troughs can extend substantially across the baseportion 108. In an embodiment, the corrugation 110 includes fiveparallel raised ribs 131-135 and four parallel troughs 114 extendingsubstantially across the base portion 108, as shown in FIG. 1. The bodyportion 106 can have an oval cross section, as illustrated in FIGS. 6and 7. The body portion 106 (see FIG. 3) can have an oval cross sectionat a first point 321, a second point 322, and a third point 323, withthe second point between the first and third points. Accordingly, thebody portion can have an oval cross section at the second point 322 thathas a smaller cross sectional area than the cross sectional area of anoval cross section at the first point 321 and of an oval cross sectionat the third point 323. Viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. 3, thebody portion 106 can have an hourglass shape. The body portion 106 canhave an hourglass shape when viewed from the back, as shown in FIG. 4.The oval cross section of the body portion 106 can have a major axis anda minor axis and the plurality of raised parallel ribs 131-135 and theparallel troughs 114 can be parallel to the minor axis.

The top portion 104, the body portion 106, and the base portion 108 canbe adapted for hot fill applications. The container 102 can be used topackage a wide variety of liquid, viscous, or solid products including,for example, juices, other beverages, yogurt, sauces, pudding, lotions,soaps in liquid or gel form, and bead shaped objects such as candy.

Formulating a blow molded container with a portion that is nearly flatcan be difficult. If a portion intended to be flat is in fact outwardly,i.e., convexly, curved, the container may be unstable when placed withthe portion contacting a surface, such as the surface of a shelf orfilling line, in order to support the container. A portion intended tobe flat can be irregular, so that there are many standing points. Theposition of the container may then be effectively unstable when theportion is placed onto a surface, because there are many restingpositions for the container on the surface. Therefore, it can beadvantageous to produce a container with a minimum number of standingpoints, for example, three or four standing points, on a portion of thecontainer which is to be placed onto a surface.

In an exemplary embodiment of the blow-molded container 102 of thepresent invention, the corrugation 110 can support the container 102upright on a surface. The corrugation 110 can have a concave shape. Forexample, the raised parallel ribs 131-135 can be concave as illustratedin FIG. 1; the concavity of a first inner rib 133 is shown in FIG. 5.For example, a concave rib can be taller farther from a major axis of anoval shaped body portion 106 than it is closer to the major axis of anoval shaped body portion 106. That is, the concave rib can be tallertowards the outside of the container 102. The parallel trough or troughs114 can also be concave. The two outermost raised parallel ribs, forexample, the two ribs on either side of a minor axis of an oval shapedbody portion 106 that are farthest from the minor axis, can formstanding points for the container 102. For example, when the baseportion 108 of a container 102 is placed in contact with a surface, theraised parallel ribs, e.g., the two outermost raised parallel ribs, canbe in contact with the surface and support the container 102 upright onthe surface.

In the embodiment of the blow-molded container 102 of the presentinvention illustrated in FIG. 1, the corrugation 110 includes fiveraised parallel ribs 131-135 and four parallel troughs 114. The fiveraised ribs can include a first outer rib 131, a first inner rib 133adjacent to the first outer rib 131, a central rib 135 adjacent to thefirst inner rib 133, a second inner rib 134 adjacent to the central rib135, and a second outer rib 132 adjacent to the second inner rib 134, asillustrated in FIG. 3. The first inner rib 133 and the second inner rib134 can be taller than the central rib 135. The first inner rib 133 andthe second inner rib 134 can have a concave shape, as shown in FIG. 1.When the first inner rib 133 and the second inner rib 134 are tallerthan the other ribs, and have a concave shape, then the two tallestpoints, close to the outside of the container 102, of the first innerrib 133, and the two tallest points, close to the outside of thecontainer 102, of the second inner rib 134 will be in or nearly incontact with a surface onto which the corrugation 110 is placed in orderto support the container 102. Thus, the first inner rib 133 and thesecond inner rib 134 can provide four standing points for the container102.

The container 102 can be made by conventional blow molding processesincluding, for example, extrusion blow molding, stretch blow molding,and injection blow molding. The container 102 has a one-piececonstruction and can be prepared from a monolayer plastic material, suchas a polyamide, for example, nylon; a polyolefin such as polyethylene,for example, low density polyethylene (LDPE) or high densitypolyethylene (HDPE), or polypropylene; a polyester, for example,polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN); orothers, which can also include additives to vary the physical orchemical properties of the material. For example, some plastic resinscan be modified to improve the oxygen permeability. Alternatively, thecontainer can be prepared from a multilayer plastic material. The layerscan be any plastic material, including virgin, recycled, and regroundmaterial, and can include plastics or other materials with additives toimprove physical properties of the container. In addition to theabove-mentioned materials, other materials often used in multilayerplastic containers include, for example, ethylvinyl alcohol (EVOH) andtie layers or binders to hold together materials that are subject todelamination when used in adjacent layers. A coating may be applied overthe monolayer or multilayer material, for example, to introduce oxygenbarrier properties. In an exemplary embodiment, the present container isprepared from polyethylene.

In an embodiment of a container system of the present invention, thecontainer system can include a blow-molded container 102; theblow-molded container 102 can include a top portion 104 defining anopening, a body portion 106 adjacent to the top portion 104 and definedby a tubular side wall, and a base portion 108 adjacent to the bodyportion 106. The base portion 108 includes corrugation 110. Thecontainer system can include a closure 116, shown in FIG. 1, adapted tobe coupled with the top portion 104 of the blow-molded container 102.The closure 116 is also shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The closure 116 can beadapted to support the container 102 in an upright position on a surfacein use. For example, a container system including the container 102 andthe closure 116 could be placed on a shelf, e.g., for storage ordisplay, with the closure 116 contacting the surface of the shelf andsupporting the container 102. Placing the container 102 with the closure116 contacting a shelf can have several advantages. For example, whenstored in such a position, a viscous fluid, such as ketchup, will restin the section of the interior of the container 102 closest to theclosure 116. Then, when a user wishes to obtain some of the viscousfluid from the container 102, the user need only squeeze or gentlyagitate the container 102 for the viscous fluid to flow from thecontainer 102 in a controlled manner. The functioning of a top-downstorage vessel of the present invention can be contrasted with thefunctioning of a traditional container in which a closure is located onthe opposite side of the portion of the container that contacts a shelf.A user desiring to remove viscous fluid from a traditional containermust often invert the container, attempt to balance the container on aclosure ill-suited for this position, and wait for an extended period oftime for the viscous fluid to flow towards the closure; or the user mustoften violently agitate the container, risking uncontrolled exiting ofthe viscous fluid from the container and resultant damage to clothing,furniture, or other property.

A top-down storage vessel of the present invention also has theadvantage that when a container 102 is stored, the base portion 108 ofthe container 102 can be on the most elevated portion of the container102, that is, opposite of the closure 116 contacting a surface. The baseportion 108 can then be designed to serve a decorative function, forexample, a marketing or advertising function, without being constrainedby the need to simultaneous provide a connection to or serve as aclosure. For example, in the embodiment of a top-down storage vessel ofthe present invention as illustrated, e.g., in FIGS. 1 through 4, thebase portion 108 can serve a decorative function. For example, the baseportion 108 can resemble the hair or a crown of, e.g., a person, ananimal, or a fictional character.

As shown in FIG. 5, the closure 116 can include a lid 517, a flange 518,and a hinge 519 connecting the lid 517 and the flange 518. The lid 517can be sealed onto the flange 518 so that a substance contained in theinterior of the blow molded container 102 cannot leave the container102. For example, a substance contained in the interior of the blowmolded container 102 can be a food. The lid 517 can be unsealed from theflange 518, so that a substance in the container 102 can leave thecontainer 102, for example, so that a substance can be forced out bysqueezing the container 102. The hinge 519 can be flexible, so that thelid 517 can be unsealed from the flange 518, with the lid 517 stillbeing connected to the flange 518 by the hinge 519 so that, for example,the lid 517 cannot be easily misplaced by a user. As other examples, thelid 517 can be designed to snap onto the flange 518 without a hingeconnecting the lid 517 and the flange 518; or the lid 517 can bethreaded and the flange 518 have mating threads so that the lid 517 canbe screwed onto the flange 518.

The lid 517 may include features which can serve, for example, astructural or physical function or a decorative function. For example,in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the lid 517 includes the lid feature120, also shown in FIG. 1. The lid feature 120 can function as a supportfor the container, when the container 102 is placed on a surface, suchas the surface of a shelf. The lid feature 120 can also serve adecorative function, for example, the lid feature 120 can resemble feetof, e.g., a person, an animal, or a fictional character.

The closure 116 can be attached to the top portion 104 in any one of anumber of ways. In an embodiment, the top portion 104 may include anengagement feature and the closure 116 can include a mating engagementfeature, so that the closure 116 can be engaged with the top portion104. An engagement feature can be, for example, a snap connectionfeature or a threaded feature. FIG. 2 illustrates a top portion 104 witha snap connection feature 202 and a closure 116 with a mating snapconnection feature; the closure 116 can be snapped onto the top portion104. For example, the mating snap connection feature may be within aflange 518 which is part of the closure 116. As another example of a wayof attaching the closure 116 to the top portion 104, the top portion 104can include a threaded feature and the closure 116 can include a matingthreaded feature, so that the closure 116 can be screwed onto the topportion 104. In another embodiment, the closure 116 can be welded ontothe top portion 104, for example, by heating plastic material of theclosure 116, heating plastic material of the top portion 104, andbringing the closure 116 and the top portion 104 into contact with eachother. The closure 116 can be glued onto the top portion 104. Other waysor combinations of ways can be used to attach the closure 116 to the topportion 104.

In a method of using the container system of the invention, the baseportion 108 of the blow molded container 102 can be adapted to supportthe container in an upright position on a filling line. For example, thebase portion 108 of the container 102 can be placed onto the surface ofa conveyor of a filling line and can stably support the container 102 onthe conveyor. For example, portions of the two outermost raised ribstowards the outside of the container 102 can form standing points whichcan stably support the container 102 on the conveyor. Thus, a conveyordesigned to transport traditional containers can be used to transporttop-down storage vessels of the present invention without adapting theconveyor. The conveyor can transport the container 102 underneath afilling station. A substance, e.g., a food, can be filled by the fillingstation through the opening of the top portion 104 into the container102. After filling, the closure 116 can be attached to the top portion104 of the container 102.

In an alternative way of attaching the closure 116 to the top portion104, the closure 116 and the container 102 can be formed as a singleunit. During a filling operation, a lid 517 can be unsealed from aflange 518, and a substance can be filled through the flange 518 intothe container 102. After filling, the lid 517 can be sealed onto theflange 518.

A method aspect of the present invention can include blow molding acontainer 102. The container 102 can include a top portion 104, a bodyportion 106 adjacent to the top portion 104, and a base portion 108adjacent to the body portion 106. The top portion 104 can define anopening; the body portion 106 can be defined by a tubular side wall. Thebase portion 108 can include corrugation 110 having a plurality ofraised parallel ribs 131-135 and parallel troughs 114 extendingsubstantially across the base portion 108. The blow molding can, forexample, include extrusion blow molding. The method can include fillingthe container 102 with a substance with the container 102 standing in anupright position on the corrugation 110. The raised ribs 131-135 can beconcave, and the container 102 can be capable of standing on thefarthest portions of at least two of the raised ribs. The farthestportions of a raised rib can be the portions of the raised rib farthestfrom the major axis of an oval shaped body portion 106; for example, thefarthest portions 526 of a raised inner rib 133 are shown in FIG. 5. Themethod can include sealing the container 102 with a closure 116. Thecontainer 102 can stand in an upright position on the corrugation 110;the container 102 can stand in an upright position on the closure 116.

The embodiments illustrated and discussed in this specification areintended only to teach those skilled in the art the best way known tothe inventors to make and use the invention. Nothing in thisspecification should be considered as limiting the scope of the presentinvention. All examples presented are representative and non-limiting.The above-described embodiments of the invention may be modified orvaried, without departing from the invention, as appreciated by thoseskilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore tobe understood that, within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents, the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically described.

1. A blow molded container, comprising a base portion, wherein the baseportion includes corrugation comprising a plurality of raised parallelribs and at least one parallel trough extending substantially across thebase portion.
 2. The blow molded container of claim 1, furthercomprising: a top portion defining an opening; and a body portionadjacent the top portion and defined by a tubular sidewall, wherein, thebase portion is adjacent the body portion.
 3. The blow molded containerof claim 2, wherein the body portion has an oval cross section.
 4. Theblow molded container of claim 2, wherein the corrugation comprises fiveraised ribs and four troughs.
 5. The blow molded container of claim 2,wherein the top portion, the body portion, and the base portion areadapted for hot fill applications.
 6. The blow molded container of claim2, wherein the body portion has an oval cross section with a major axisand a minor axis, and the plurality of raised ribs and the at least onetrough are parallel to the minor axis.
 7. The blow molded container ofclaim 2, wherein at least one raised parallel rib is concave.
 8. Theblow molded container of claim 4, wherein the five raised ribs comprisea first outer rib, a first inner rib adjacent to the first outer rib, acentral rib adjacent to the first inner rib, a second inner rib adjacentto the central rib, and a second outer rib adjacent to the second innerrib and wherein the first and second inner ribs are taller than thefirst and second outer ribs.
 9. The blow molded container of claim 8,wherein the first and second inner ribs have a concave shape and formfour standing points for the container.
 10. The blow molded container ofclaim 2, comprising a polyolefin.
 11. The container of claim 1, whereinthe raised parallel ribs support the container upright on a surface. 12.The container of claim 1, wherein the raised parallel ribs compriseoutermost raised parallel ribs that form standing points for thecontainer.
 13. A container system, comprising: a blow molded containercomprising a top portion defining an opening, a body portion adjacentthe top portion and defined by a tubular sidewall, and a base portionadjacent the body portion, wherein the base portion includescorrugation; and a closure adapted to be coupled with the top portion ofthe blow molded container.
 14. The container system of claim 13, whereinthe closure is adapted to support the container in an upright positionon a surface.
 15. The container system of claim 13, wherein the baseportion is adapted to support the container in an upright position on afilling line.
 16. A method comprising blow molding a container thatcomprises a top portion defining an opening, a body portion adjacent thetop portion and defined by a tubular sidewall, and a base portionadjacent the body portion, wherein the base portion includes corrugationcomprising a plurality of raised parallel ribs and at least one paralleltrough extending substantially across the base portion.
 17. The methodof claim 16, wherein blow molding comprises extrusion blow molding. 18.The method of claim 16, further comprising filling the container withthe container standing in an upright position on the corrugation. 19.The method of claim 18, wherein the raised parallel ribs are concave andthe container stands on the farthest portions of at least two of theraised parallel ribs.
 20. The method of claim 18, further comprisingsealing the container with a closure.